You promised to wreak havoc on the dungeon, but instead you've got Dragon Slime!

Ron rode on an ironback beast, looking ahead at the edge of the icy plains illuminated by firelight—the last garrison camp in the North, where fleeing soldiers were rushing in in a panic.

He raised his hand, and the last red dot on the command panel lit up: "Chase them a little longer, force them into the camp, and wipe them out in one fell swoop."

The firelight at the northern garrison camp was particularly glaring in the snowy night. The outer wall, made of thick wooden stakes, was two people high, with the tips coated in frozen oil, which, once lit, could create a ring of flames. The fleeing soldiers were pushing and shoving towards the gate, and the guards, while letting them in, shouted back to bring out the catapults.

Ron didn't give them time to set up defenses. The heavy crossbow towers in the main camp opened fire first, and the chain bolts drove into the crossbeams of the camp gate, tearing a hole in the wooden door.

Taking advantage of the unsealed entrance, the Ironback Beasts and Armored Beasts charged in, leaping through the snow waves, followed closely by the Slime Horde, which sealed the entrance with a sliding wall to prevent the people inside from escaping.

The Abyss's Maw slid down the ice slope on the right side of the camp, the barbed chain of the wall-climbing beast swung onto the top of the wall, and the Shadowscale Golem climbed up the chain, its blade tip slicing through the bowstrings on the battlements.

Dark Abyss then circled around to the rear of the camp from the left flank, found the half-frozen drainage ditch, and the stealthy monster managed to bite through the ice with its teeth and crawl inside.

The camp quickly descended into chaos.

Ron led the main force through the front gate, while bone minions hurled strings of explosive bottles into the barracks, causing roofs to collapse and sparks to fly. The heavy armored beasts advanced along the camp's central axis, smashing through all siege equipment in their path.

The commander of the defending army led a squad of personal guards out to meet the enemy, the long halberd in his hand reflecting a cold light in the firelight of the snowy night.

They charged straight at Ron in a wedge formation, but were slowed down by the slime membrane. The next moment, the Ironback Beast, with its bone shield, broke through the formation, and the Shadowscale Puppet cut in through the gap. With a flash of light, the royal guard was instantly shredded.

By the time Dark Sea Abyss arrived from the rear, the encirclement of the camp had already been closed.

The Abyss's Throat occupied the high ground, pushing back all those who still wanted to rush out. The firelight reflected on the snow, like a burning tide, slowly swallowing up the last gaps in the camp.

In less than half an hour, the northern garrison camp fell completely silent.

Broken shields and shattered weapons lay scattered on the snow, and the campsite was reduced to charred remains. The wind rushed in again, turning the flames into thin tongues that licked at the fallen stakes.

Ron stood on the central axis of the camp and closed the terrain compass.

The red dots in the North have all gone out, leaving only a cold-colored map.

"Northern route, over."

He turned to look in the direction of Cold Fang Peak, where the ridge lay silently in the darkness, like a chain that had been taken control of. Then, his gaze began to turn to the more distant southern border.

The snow and wind of the North faded away, replaced by the dry heat of the South.

The terrain here, from Hanya Peak southwards, is first a rocky desert, and then down into a valley with dense forests and underground rivers.

Ron stood in front of the terrain map. There weren't many markers for the southern region on the map—the lack of information actually presented an opportunity for him.

The Dark Abyss was the first to move out, but their mission was not to attack the city; rather, to infiltrate.

They traveled south along the ancient riverbed, disguising themselves as a lost caravan to infiltrate the southern border towns.

The border town was built on a fractured canyon, at the bottom of which was an underground river that flowed into the depths of the jungle.

Intelligence quickly returned: the Southern Territory was ostensibly ruled by an alliance of several city-states, but underground, there was a massive interconnected tunnel—the "Grey Vein City"—that ran through almost the entire Southern Territory Valley.

The dungeon not only has underground inhabitants, but also a special transport herd of beasts and a hidden mercenary army.

After hearing the intelligence, Ron lightly tapped the "Grey Vein" position on the screen: "Target, Dungeon."

The Abyss's Throat was sent to explore the northern entrance to the Ash Vein, a semi-abandoned mine with its opening sealed by rocks and iron bars, and its walls covered with grayish-white moss.

The wall-climbing beast squeezed through the crack and discovered that it was not abandoned, but rather deliberately transformed into the shell of an underground market. The real entrance was under a stone bridge at the deepest part of the mine.

The sound of the water under the stone bridge was deep, and the undercurrent carried a humid, hot wind, flowing out of the well.

Ron decided not to alert the enemy yet. He had Claudia lead a squad to infiltrate the outer perimeter of the dungeon and record the locations of all passages and entrances.

Meanwhile, the main force began constructing outposts on the edge of the desert, using the bone fragments and runestones brought from the north as defensive fortifications to ensure that the southern counterattacks would have difficulty crossing the border should war break out.

A few days later, the intelligence was compiled onto Ron's command panel.

The structure of the Grey Line dungeon resembles an upside-down spider: at its center is the largest trading hall, with eight main thoroughfares leading to different city-states and underground settlements.

Each main road had fortified passes, behind which were the mercenary camps.

More importantly, the lowest level of the dungeon is connected to an underground river and some kind of ancient mechanical array, which may be the source of underground energy for the entire Southern Territory.

Ron closed the plate and said softly, "From the bottom, pull out its heart."

This time, he plans to first use infiltration and sabotage to plunge the dungeon into chaos, and then swallow the entire underground region of the Southern Territory whole.

The northern entrance to the Gray Vein City lies at the deepest part of the mine. The heat waves from the rocky desert outside the mine entrance are overwhelming, while the bottom of the mine is damp and cold, mixed with the smell of rust and lime.

The Dark Abyss squad infiltrated under the cover of night, their armor and skin coated with a grayish-white powder, resembling moss on the walls of a well.

The guards at the mine entrance were mercenaries, wearing light armor and carrying short curved knives with mercenary markings engraved on the back of the blades.

Instead of confronting the Dark Abyss head-on, he slipped into a crevice in the shadows during a shift change and followed the crack all the way to the stone bridge.

The stone bridge appears dilapidated, with cracks in its surface. In reality, iron spikes are embedded in these cracks. Stepping on one will trigger a mechanism that will sink the entire bridge into the underground river.

The team used bone hooks to secure themselves to the bridge base, flipped over to the bottom of the bridge, and crawled through a narrow water tunnel, just wide enough for one person to squeeze through, into the outer ring of the underground city.

The air in the outer ring was stifling, with lanterns hanging overhead and stones embedded in the stone walls, their light tinged with yellow and unable to illuminate the depths.

The streets were paved with smooth stone slabs, and the people coming and going were underground residents dressed in various clothes, including caravans from the surface and subterranean creatures with gray scales and protruding eyes.

The Dark Sea Abyss was mixed in with foreign merchants disguised as escorts of goods, pulling several bone carts covered with burlap, underneath which were hidden explosive sacs filled with talismans.

As the squad leader walked, he noted down the layout of the passageways: the outer ring had three main streets, each with an arched stone gate at its entrance, and the gates were inscribed with the symbols of different city-states.

At the end of each main street was a small pass, behind which the sounds of clashing armor and weapons being inspected could be heard—those were mercenary outposts.

As we walked down a slope, the air became damp, and we could hear the sound of water coming from below.

That was the underground river of the Gray Vein, flowing along the bottom of the city to a deeper place.

The river water was not clear, but a dark green with a faint fluorescence, as if it had been stained by some kind of mineral for a long time.

The squad leader noticed that there was a closed iron gate on each side of the underground river, and the sound of mechanical gears turning could occasionally be heard from behind the gates. That was probably the location of the underground city's energy core.

Instead of approaching rashly, they continued exploring downhill.

A three-pronged sign is embedded in the stone wall at the intersection—as mentioned in the intelligence, this is the direction of the trading hall in the Grayline dungeon.

The trading hall was larger than I had imagined, with a stone ceiling so high that the top was not visible. There was a flow of people in the passageways on all four sides, and in the center was a huge platform suspended by iron chains. The platform was filled with shelves and animal cages, and the cries of vendors rose and fell.

The squad leader scanned the area and confirmed that there were five direct passages from the trading hall to the center, with two mercenaries standing guard at the entrance of each passage.

Below the chain hoisting platform was a bottomless circular well, from which the wind blew up, carrying a damp, rotten smell.

He whispered to his teammates, "There's probably an energy array under the round well."

Having explored almost the entire route, the team didn't stop. They circled back to the outer ring along another relatively quiet street and finally retreated through the water cave under the stone bridge.

Back on the surface, the night winds of the desert carried dry sand, a stark contrast to the stifling heat of the dungeon. The intelligence was delivered to Ron immediately.

He looked at the completed gray vein structure on the topographic panel and slightly raised the corner of his mouth: "Very good, next step, ignition."

The plan was finalized in just half a day—not a direct assault on the city, but to ignite a fire in the Grayline dungeon that would burn to the core.

The Dark Sea Abyss team infiltrated the mine again, this time carrying not only explosive sacs but also poison powder canisters sealed with animal bones.

When the toxic powder comes into contact with moisture, it turns into a fine mist, which, when inhaled, can cause severe dizziness and hallucinations.

The objective is clear: first attack the trading post, then lure the mercenary outpost to the mercenary outpost.

The entry into the city went smoothly; they were still disguised as a caravan transporting goods. The trading hall was still brightly lit, and the chain-strip platform was bustling with noise.

The squad leader gave a hand signal, and two team members went to the edge of the platform and stuffed several burst bladders into the fixing slots of the chain.

The remaining people split up and hid the poison powder canisters in a pile of cloth next to the water tank.

The first muffled thud came from the platform's fixing groove, and the heavy iron chain was jolted loose, causing the entire platform to tilt violently.

The caged beast roared and rammed against the iron bars, causing the shelves to tip over and the goods and people to fall together to the edge of the well below.

Immediately following, a second explosion rang out in the water source area, shattering the water buckets and causing a mist of clear water mixed with poison powder to quickly spread.

As soon as the underground residents who were fighting for water inhaled it, they began to stagger and sway. Some drew their knives and slashed wildly, while others screamed in terror.

Chaos spread in a matter of moments, and the mercenaries from the five aisles of the trading hall were forced to split up and enter the area to maintain order.

This was the opportunity for the squad—they mingled with the panicked crowd, slipped silently toward the entrance, and casually poured the igniting oil they had prepared beforehand onto the gate hinges.

By the time the mercenaries realized what was happening, the door hinges were already burnt and deformed, making it impossible to close the pass completely.

Worse still, it's unclear who started it, but the mercenaries and the underground inhabitants began clashing with each other, each believing the other was the culprit behind the chaos.

Amid the chaos, the squad leader retreated to a shadowy spot and took out a bone whistle engraved with black patterns.

A short whistle cut through the noise and carried beyond the city walls—it was a signal for Ron.

Above the surface of the Grayvein Dungeon, at the outpost on the edge of the Rocky Desert, Ron placed the bone whistle receiver, and the dot on the terrain panel where the trading hall was located began to flash.

He looked at Claudia: "The entrance is yours. Block the way for reinforcements. The Abyss's Throat is preparing to cut into the rear layer from the Icefall Well."

Claudia simply nodded and led a squad of Lava Soldiers directly into the mine, the flames resembling an inverted river in the night.

The chaos underground continued to escalate. Someone was pushed into the well at the edge, and screams echoed down the well wall.

The chain hoisting platform completely collapsed, crushing two supporting pillars. The floor of the entire trading hall sank slightly, and stone chips continued to fall from the top.

The squad leader took one last look, confirming that the fire had reached the very core, and then led his men into the backup escape tunnel—the tunnel led to the most remote abandoned alley on the outer ring road, and beyond the alley was the upper level of the mine.

Chapter 153

When they emerged from the well, the underground light was in disarray, and flames, like overflowing lava, spread in all directions along the passage.

Ron raised his hand, signaling the entire army to suppress the attack: "The Grey Vein will have a new master from today onwards."

Flames rolled below the wellhead, waves of heat surging upwards. Ron didn't wait any longer; his three forces advanced simultaneously.

The main force moved forward, spiraling down the mine shaft, with the Ironback Beasts and Heavy Armored Beasts at the forefront, pushing past the remaining mercenary ambush points.

The swarm of slimes slid down the well wall, sealing off all the firing ports on both sides.

The Abyss's Throat cut diagonally into the middle level of the dungeon from the Icefall Well. Their wall-climbing beasts landed behind the pass first, and the barbed chains were suddenly swung open, pulling the mercenaries guarding the gate in half. The Shadowscale Puppet took advantage of the chaos to rush in and cleanly cut the noose of the defensive equipment.

The Dark Sea Abyss then followed the previously explored water cave to the west side of the outer ring, where it laid out a bone spike array in the area not yet affected by the fire, cutting off the escape route.

The trading hall had become a living hell; the chain hoisting platform had collapsed into a pile of twisted iron frames, the animal cages were shattered, and wild beasts and people were running around together.

The mercenaries tried to regroup, but were forced to cough and wheeze by the heat fog and poison powder.

As the main force charged into the hall, Claudia threw out a molten stone, which landed beside the well. The flames shot down the well wall, illuminating the dense mechanical gears below.

The captain of the Abyss's Maw set up a heavy crossbow at the intersection of the passages, blocking the main road leading to the mercenary camp.

The two teams of wall-climbing beasts took turns switching positions, giving no openings.